“The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly applications increased by 78,000 mostly because a large number of applications were filed in states damaged by the storm.”

Wow!! Up by 78,000 sounds BAD!! To a total of 439,000!!! Wow, it IS bad!! Just remember that NONE of these new jobless were ignored prior to the election, in order to get the “Official Unemployment Rate” below a magical 8%!!! Nahhh, that would never happen. And also remember, that it is ALL Hurricane Sandy’s fault, because nothing could ever be rightfully blamed on The One or his policies.

“Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 41,000 to a seasonally adjusted 410,000, the Labor Department said on Wednesday.”

Wow!! Dropped by 41,000!!! That sounds good!! But wait, I love how, NOWHERE in the article do they say what the “estimate” was last week. If this weeks number is 410,000 + 41,000 drop equals 451,000 claims LAST WEEK!!! But last week, they said that the rate ONLY INCREASED BY 78,000 to 439,000, and that sounded BAD. IT WAS WORSE THAN THAT!!! It actually increased by 90,000 claims last week!!! That means that a 41,00 dropped number this week is SMALLER BY 12,000 (and will be EVEN SMALLER NEXT WEEK WHEN THE NUMBER IS REVISED UPWARD AGAIN). So really, the drop this week is only 29,000 (the 12,000 has to be counted somewhere!!).

Also:

“The four-week average of applications, a less volatile number, increased to 383,750.”

Anyone want to wager that this number WILL BE GOING UP next week?? And it is already ABOVE the 375,000 level “that some economists think signals a stable unemployment rate”. Which means, that UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IS RISING AGAIN.

Three and a half years ago we wrote a post titled, “How much do YOU pay in taxes??“. In that post, we attempted to explain the amount of TAXES that Americans pay to the government, in one form or another. We have also posted, very brief, discussions of “Pass Through Taxes” and “Taxes on Dividends“. I have not done an in depth study of these subjects, because I still need to pay the bills and do not have the time, but suffice to say that EVERYTHING that I have seen on these subjects supports my assertions.

Today, I was excited to read another article that is along the same lines as our original post on Taxes.

And today is the first of November!! She has AT LEAST two more months!!!

In looking through our original post we concluded that someone, making what she does, in Maryland pays AT LEAST 39%!!! We also said that this is a conservative estimate. Meaning it is probably higher than this. By her calculations, she thinks that she will be paying just over 30% for 2012. In looking at her calculations, I think she has left some taxes/fees/etc. out of her calculation. #1) I do not see where she has paid any taxes or fees for an automobile, this could easily add 1%. #2) She has not included the employer match for her payroll taxes, this is over 7%. These two items will get her close to 39%. Finally, she did not include any pass through taxes. To be fair, we did not include these either, but I feel this easily pushes her above 50% paid to the government.

I am glad that others are writing about this subject. We need everyone to understand HOW MUCH THEY PAY IN TAXES!!!